Humanophones Festival Celebrates 13 Years of Body Music

The Compagnie des Humanophones is celebrating its 13th anniversary with a festival featuring body percussion and vocal polyphony.

Thirteen Years of Body Music Evolution

The anniversary festival marks more than a decade of touring and artistic development for the Compagnie des Humanophones. Since its inception, the collective has staged six distinct concert-shows alongside community outreach and educational residencies across Europe. The Toulouse gathering serves as a comprehensive showcase of these disciplines, transforming the human body into a primary acoustic instrument.

Workshops span three full days, catering to beginner, intermediate, and advanced participants. Instruction covers body percussion, percussive dance, polyphonic singing, circle songs, vocal improvisation, human beat-boxing, and live looping. Practitioners can also explore complementary practices including Qi gong, traditional Occitan song and dance, African dance, and hip-hop dance.

Performances and Workshops Run from December 10 to 12

Events begin on Thursday, December 10, at 6:00 PM with an opening session featuring the performance RECIF (lasting 40 minutes), followed by the Humanophones production CORPUS (running for one hour), and an open stage for body music participants. Friday, December 11, shifts to daytime workshops running from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, preceded by a morning warm-up at 9:00 AM. Evening performances feature the HIP TAP PROJECT (35 minutes) alongside the Humanophones show ANTROPUS.

Activities continue Saturday, December 12, with morning warm-ups at 9:00 AM and workshops running through 6:00 PM. Evening programming opens at 6:15 PM with LE DILEMME DU HERISSON, a collaborative production between the Humanophones and Sons de Toile lasting 40 minutes. This is followed at 7:00 PM by the HUMAN’ORCHESTRA show featuring invited guests. Sunday, December 13, concludes the festival with a morning warm-up, workshops from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, a grand circle song session at 2:30 PM, and an official closing ceremony at 6:00 PM.

Resident Artists and Guest Instructors Join the Anniversary Roster

The 13th-anniversary roster features a broad ensemble of resident artists and guest instructors. Core performers and teachers include Rémi Leclerc, Quelen Lamouroux, Leila Martial, Cyprien Zéni, Frédérika Alésina, David Amar, Célia Marissal, Wab, Joris Le Dantec, Natacha Kanga, Valeria Vitrano, Chris M’passi, Laurie Batista, Sophie Boucher, Mélissandre Masliah, Harold Gazeau, Elouan Radenne, and Tioneb.

Invited guest artists contributing to the program comprise the Hip Tap Project, Leela Petronio, Ludivic Tronché, Daniel Luka, Michael Vidal, Recif with Ananda Montage, Soizik Muguet, Julie Cail, Sonia Montel, and Jacinte Roque. On-site refreshments will be available through an established food and beverage stand throughout the four-day event.

The Compagnie des Humanophones continues its residency work and European touring schedule following the Toulouse anniversary gathering.